As a big fan of historical grand strategy (with hundreds of hours in Total War, Crusader Kings, CIv, this game's predecessors et al) I am happy to say this game, with the Fame and Strategy Expansion, is one of the most comprehensive games I have ever played. Apologies for the massive review. But it is a massive game.
First things first -
Techical Issues
The dismally negative reviews are almost exclusively due to technical issues. The PUK expansion brings with it serious problems that may prevent you from playing. And KOEI is fixing them at a glacial speed. Fortunately, the two main issues I faced had easy workarounds. I will leave them here, just in case -
Crash at Launch - This was fixed by temporarily disabling "active threat control" in my antivirus settings. Your antivrius will have a similar module. Try disabling it if you have similar issues.
Unable to Open Prestige Screen - I was able to fix this by reducing the CGI settings to "low" in the game options. Game does not look any uglier as the beauty of the graphics lies in the gorgeous illustrations, which remain unaffected.
Other than those two I have not faced any game-breaking technical issues. Now to get to the good bits.
The Base Game - ROTK13
This is a character focussed strategy game. Everything revolves around the beautifully illustrated and dramatic (mostly) historical figures from the Three Kingdoms - their friendships and actions through events. You are also able to create custom characters and events, and insert them into the game.
You essentially play as a single character - who can be anything from a lowly wanderer to the ruler of a vast empire. The things you can do in this game as an individual are quite staggering -
- Take orders from your liege, and give orders to your subordinates. Based on your performance, receive dynamic rewards and merit.
- Based on merit, rise through the ranks from minor official to the governor of a city, be a minister and control part of the government, then a viceroy who rules over a province. Or forge your own path as an independent warlord.
- Engage in debates against other character to push your agenda.
- Engage in duels against other characters in battles or for training, or against bandits.
- Attend court of your liege. Make suggestions. Debate other advisors to make them see your point of view. As a governor, viceroy or sovereign, hold your own court. Listen to suggestions and set the governance goals for the season.
- Form relations with other characters and end up being friends, sworn siblings or spouse. Support them , and receive support from them, in battles or in administrative tasks. Hold banquets. Give gifts.
- Engage in quests for other characters, or your subjects to win reputation and rewards.
- Engage in administrative tasks, and order your subordinates to do the same. Build up commerce, farming and culture and enable your city / province to grow. Train your troops - cavalry, infantry and archers, from light troops to elite warriors. Patrol to keep the roads safe. Placate surrounding villages to bring them into the fold and boost your cities.
- Engage in warfare. Find your place in the feudal chain of command based on your rank - as sub-commander of a regiment, or as the commander of a vast army with hundreds of thousands of troops. Engage in sea, land or siege battles. Use unique tactics.
- Engage in skulduggery. Spy on enemies, coax enemy officers to switch sides, spread rumours.
- Deal with other forces. Negotiate alliances. Call in favours for reinforcements in war.
- Gain enough power and influence. Then rebel against your sovereign in civil war.
Improvements in ROTK13PUK
The expansion makes some significant additions -
- Maintain your own "house", with private armies, friends and family.
- Have children. Oversee their growth into officers.
- Maintain your own retinue of officers - poorly translated as "comrades". They can be your relations, or relations of your relations. They hang out at your house and stick with you through thick and thin.
- Train by yourself, or with others, to improve your stats. Discuss strategies and philosophies with other officers for mutual improvements.
- An RPG-esque "prestige system" that lets you choose your own path to fame, as a warrior, politician, merchant etc. Gain more prestige, become famous with new cognomens, get more abilities.
- Discuss battle tactics before a battle. I have not explored this yet.
- Build strongholds along the roads to slowdown invaders, as well as grant bonuses to defending armies.
Pros
+ Chain of Command. You play as one person, and do only what he / she is capable of doing. You are not some abstract divine entity that needs to micromanage every city and army. You command, and not control. This makes the gameplay significantly more authentic than something like Total War, or Civ.
+ Realism. Realistic time scale, realistic marching / movement times, realistic feudal structure, realistic army sizes, realistic reinforcements, no arbitrary limits.
+ Character Focus. The stronger focus on characters, and more detailed interactions and personalities makes the game a lot more believable. Much better than Crusader Kings, where people are little more than a random portrait and some numbers.
+ Historicity. Closely aligned with historical events. Characters and forces try to follow their historical paths. This can be toggled on and off in the options.
+ Gorgeous Soundtrack. Orchestral epic, that shifts in tone based on where you are and what you are doing.
+ Lenient system requirements. Can run on a potato PC, at the cost of production values.
+ Custom Characters and Events. A fun bonus.
Mixed Feelings
Tactical Battles are not as detailed as Total War. But at least they exist, unlike Crusader Kings. They can be considered appropriately detailed so as not to bog down the grand strategy part.
Endgame Yawns. Once your force controls most of China with only a couple of factions remaining, then winning the game becomes a matter of time. Personally, I do not mind this.
Cons fixed by the PUK
Micromanagement. As a viceroy, you can keep conquering cities. Eventually your province itself can become 90% of your ruler's kingdom - a massive micromanagement burden. In the PUK you now have the ability to give cities back to your sovereign if it becomes too much to manage.
Your sovereign can hog all the good officers in the main game, refusing your request to put them under your command. With the comrade system, you can form personal relations, and bring them over to your city / province.
Duels and Debates were simplistic luck based affairs in the base game. They are now a lot more tactical.
Shy AI officers would rarely bond in the base game. Now you can get them to befriend each other through letters.
Remaining Cons
- Poor Production Values. The 3d graphics and UI are not much to look at. The 2d art and music are great though.
- Weak Diplomacy. Diplomacy and foreign relation elements are barebones. You cannot bargain terms. Or form marriage ties, have tributaries etc.
- Lack of Internal Politics. There are no options or reasons to work against your fellow officers in the same force, like you can do in Crusader Kings.
- Lost in Translation. If you can only play the English version like me, you will have to figure out a lot of misleading terms in the UI. Read the manual. The steam community is very helpful as well.
- Technical Issues. The base game was very stable. But the PUK is causing lot of problems for many people, as mentioned in the beginning of the review.